For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 11, 2004
Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception
The Carltun
East Meadow, New York
6:25 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome.
It's great --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: New York loves you!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We need you!
THE PRESIDENT: Let me get started. (Laughter.) Thanks for
coming. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for your support. It is
great to be back in New York. We have had a fantastic day here today.
And it's topped off by what is a successful effort to make sure that my
campaign is properly fueled -- (laughter) -- for the charge ahead.
(Applause.)
We're going to compete here in New York, and we're going to compete
here hard. I'm counting on you. I'm counting on you to help us. The
Vice President and I look forward to bringing our message to this great
state. New York is going to be a part of what is going to be a great
national victory in November of this year. (Applause.)
Speaking about our Vice President, I made a really good pick when I
asked Dick Cheney to join me. He's the finest Vice President our
country has ever had. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Your Dad was! (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: You know something -- you sounded exactly like my
Mother. (Laughter and applause.)
Speaking about marrying well -- (laughter) -- that is precisely
what I did. Laura is a fabulous First Lady. (Applause.) She's really
a comforting soul who loves our family and loves our country. I'm
really proud of the job she's done.
I'm also proud of the job that Governor George Pataki has done for
the state of New York. He is a great governor. (Applause.) I'm proud
to call Pataki, friend; I really am. It's comforting to know that he's
out there on the stump defending his buddy, George With. And he does a
good job of it, he really does. I'm proud -- thank you, George, for
being here.
I also want to thank my friend, Rudy Giuliani, for being here, as
well. (Applause.) He, too, is out there defending his buddy. And
both these men have got a lot of credibility, because they've done such
a great job in their -- one as governor and one as mayor, during
difficult times. And I'm proud to call them friends.
I'm also pleased that Peter King traveled with me today, from
Washington, D.C., to his district here in New York. (Applause.) I
want to thank Peter for his service. He's a fine United States
congressman, as is Vito Fossella. Vito is a New York congressman, as
well. (Applause.)
I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. I want
to thank Sandy Treadwell and Mike Long. I want to thank Joe Mondello.
(Applause.) Pat Acampora is with us today. These are all people who
are willing to spend time energizing the grassroots. Those are the
people who are willing to put up the signs and make the phone calls and
turn out the vote. I'm counting on you. You can't run a campaign
alone. You need people from all neighborhoods around this country
willing to work. And for those of you who are going to work on our
behalf, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. We're
counting on you. We're not going to let you down. And I'm looking
forward to the contest. (Applause.)
I finally got an opponent. (Laughter.) It was my honor to call
Senator Kerry and to welcome him to the race and to congratulate him on
running a good campaign. I look forward to the debate, a debate on the
issues. And it's going to be an interesting debate because he's built
up quite a record. (Laughter.) Senator Kerry -- he's been in
Washington long enough to take both sides of every issue. (Laughter
and applause.) Senator Kerry voted for the Patriot Act, voted for
NAFTA, voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, and for the use of force
in Iraq. Now he opposes the Patriot Act, NAFTA, the No Child Left
Behind Act -- (laughter) -- and the liberation of Iraq. He clearly has
strong beliefs. (Laughter.) They just don't last very long.
(Laughter and applause.)
There will be a very clear choice in this election, the choice
between keeping the tax relief that is moving the economy forward, or
putting the burden of higher taxes back on the American people; a
choice between an America which leads the world with strength and
confidence, or an America that is uncertain in the face of danger. I
look forward to laying these alternatives squarely before the people.
I'm glad the campaign has begun. I have something I want to tell
the people. The first thing I'm going to tell them is we've achieved
great things during the last three years. We've accomplished a lot.
But most importantly, we have a positive vision, and optimistic vision
for the years ahead; a plan to win the war on terror -- (applause) -- a
plan to extend freedom and peace throughout the world; a plan to make
sure prosperity continues; and a plan to encourage compassion at home.
There's no doubt where we stand. I will speak clearly and confidently
about our positions, and there's no doubt we'll win four more years on
the 2nd of November. (Applause.)
The last three years have brought serious challenges and we've
given serious answers. We came to office with the stock market in
decline and the economy headed into recession. Delivered historic tax
relief, and now our economy is the fastest growing of any major
industrialized nation. (Applause.) We had to confront corporate
crimes that cost people their jobs and their savings. So we passed
strong corporate reforms, and made it very clear that we will not
tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. (Applause.)
We saw war and grief on a quiet September morning. But we pursued
the terrorist enemy across the world. We've captured or killed many of
the key leaders of the al Qaeda network, and the rest of them will
learn there is no cave or hole deep enough to hide from the justice of
the United States. (Applause.)
We confronted the dangers of state-sponsored terror and the spread
of weapons of mass destruction. So we ended two of the most violent
and dangerous regimes on Earth. We freed over 50 million people, and
once again, America is proud to lead the armies of liberation.
(Applause.)
When we came to Washington, we found a military that was
under-funded and under-appreciated. So we gave our military the
resources and respect they deserve. And today no one in the world can
question the skill and the strength and the spirit of the United States
military. (Applause.)
When we came to office, people had gotten used to what they called
gridlock. Old problems were used to score points. Old problems were
just politicized and debated and then just passed on from year to
year. But we came to Washington for a different reason. We came to
solve problems. That's why we passed major reforms to raise the
standards in every public school in America. That's why we passed
reforms of Medicare, to give patients prescription drugs and give
seniors choices. No, we came to lead, and we have delivered results
for the American people.
It's a President's job to confront problems, not to pass them on to
future Presidents and future generations. (Applause.) A President
needs to step up to make tough decisions and keep commitments. And
that's how I'm going to continue to lead this country. Great events
will turn on this election. The man who sits in the Oval Office will
set the course in the war on terror and the direction of our economy.
The security and prosperity of America are at stake.
My opponent hadn't offered much in the way of strategies to win the
war, or policies to expand our economy. So far, all we hear from that
side is a lot of bitterness and anger. But he's going to find out what
I know: Anger is not an agenda for the future of America. (Applause.)
I'm going to talk about the big issues confronting our country with
a sense of optimism because I believe so much in what our country
stands for -- a sense a resolve and determination. My administration
stands ready to lead this nation for four more years. We have a
reason. We can see clearly where we need to go.
A big issue for every family in America is the federal tax burden.
It's the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was the President. We
have left more money in the hands that earned it. By spending and
investing and helping to create new jobs, the American people have used
their money far better than the federal government would have.
(Applause.) Because we acted, our economy is growing stronger. The
economy grew in the second half of 2003 at the fastest rate in nearly
20 years. Productivity is high and business investment is rising.
Interest rates and inflation rates are low. Home ownership is at the
highest rate ever. Manufacturing is increasing. We've added 355,000
new jobs over the past six months. The tax relief we passed is
working. (Applause.)
We have a difference of opinion on taxes. My opponent's plan for
those tax cuts is to take them away. He would use that money to expand
the federal government. I have a better idea: To keep this economy
growing and to create jobs, the tax cuts must be permanent.
(Applause.)
We need to do more to keep our economy growing. To create jobs, we
need to maintain fiscal discipline in the Nation's Capital. We need to
protect small business owners and employees from the frivolous and junk
lawsuits that make it hard to expand their businesses. We need to stop
over-regulation at the state and federal level. We need to control the
costs of health care by association health plans or health saving
accounts. And this country must have national medical liability
reform. (Applause.)
We need to open up markets for New York's farmers and entrepreneurs
and manufacturers. We need to pass sound energy legislation that will
encourage conservation, that will enable us to modernize our
electricity system, and that will make us less dependent on foreign
sources of energy. (Applause.)
We've got a difference on how to create jobs. My opponent talks
about job creation, but he's against every one of those job creating
measures. Empty talk about jobs and economic isolationism won't get
anybody hired. The best way to create jobs is through a pro-growth,
pro-entrepreneur economic agenda. (Applause.)
Our economy is changing. It's a time of transition. And so we
must help people get the skills necessary so they can find good work.
All skills start with education. That's why I was so strong on the No
Child Left Behind Act. This administration is challenging the soft
bigotry of low expectations. In return for federal money, we now
expect every child to learn to read and write and add and subtract.
And we want every school district in America to show us whether or not
every child is learning to read and write and add and subtract, to make
sure that not one single child gets left behind in our country.
(Applause.)
We're doing more. We have special programs for high school
students to make sure they can catch up in reading and math. We've got
to focus on our community college system. Today I heard the great
story about Nassau Community College and their nursing program, as
they're paying for people to become nurses in our society. Education
is the gateway to a hopeful future, and this administration is making
sure the gate is open to all Americans.
We're also working toward making sure this society encourages
ownership. We want more people owning a home. We want more people
owning their own small business. We want people owning and managing
their own health care accounts. (Applause.) We want younger workers
to own and manage personal savings accounts under Social Security.
(Applause.) I believe in private property so much, I want everybody to
have some. (Laughter.)
On issue after issue, the American people have a very clear
choice. My opponent is against personal retirement accounts. He's
against putting patients in charge of Medicare. He's against the tax
relief. He seems to be against every idea that gives Americans more
authority, more choices, and more control over our own lives. It's the
same old Washington mind-set -- they'll give you the orders, and
you'll pay the bills. I've got news for the Washington crowd, the
Washington insiders: America has gone beyond that way of thinking, and
we are not going back. (Applause.)
Our future also depends on America's leadership in the world. The
momentum of freedom in our time is strong, but we still face serious
challenges. Al Qaeda is wounded, but not broken. Terrorists are
testing our will in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Regimes in North Korea
and Iran are challenging the peace. If America shows weakness and
uncertainty in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. That
is not going to happen on my watch. (Applause.)
This nation is strong and confident in the cause of freedom, and
today, no one doubts the word of the United States. America and our
allies gave an ultimatum to the terror regime in Afghanistan. The
Taliban chose defiance, and for the good of the world, and for the good
of the suffering people in Afghanistan, the Taliban are no longer in
power. (Applause.) America and our allies gave an ultimatum to the
terror regime in Iraq. The dictator chose defiance; the dictator now
sits in a prison cell. (Applause.)
September the 11th, 2001 taught a lesson I will never forget:
America must confront threats before they fully materialize. In Iraq,
my administration looked at the intelligence, and we saw a threat. The
Congress looked at the same intelligence, and they saw a threat. The
United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence, and it saw
a threat. The previous administration and Congress looked at the
intelligence and made regime change in Iraq the policy of our country.
In 2002, the United Nations Security Council yet again demanded a
full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs. As he had for
over a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply. So I had a choice to
make: either take the word of a madman, or take action to defend
America. Given that choice, I will defend America. (Applause.)
My opponent admits that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He just
didn't support my decision to remove Saddam from power. Perhaps he was
hoping Saddam would lose the next election in Iraq. (Laughter.) We
showed the dictator, and a watching world, that America means what it
says. Because our coalition acted, Saddam's torture chambers are
closed. Because we acted, Iraq's weapons programs are ended forever.
Because we acted, nations like Libya have gotten the message and
renounced their own weapons programs. Because we acted, an example of
democracy is rising at the heart of the Middle East. Because we acted,
the world is more free and America is more secure. (Applause.)
We still face thugs and terrorists in Iraq who would rather go on
killing the innocent than accept the advance of liberty. See, they
know that a free Iraq would be a major defeat in the cause of terror.
This collection of killers is trying to shake our will, to shake the
will of America. You know, they really don't understand our country.
America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. (Applause.)
We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq; defeating them
there so we do not have to face them in our own country. We're calling
on other nations to help Iraq build a free society. A free Iraq makes
America and the world more secure. We're standing with the Iraqi
people as they assume more of their own defense and move toward
self-government. These are not easy tasks, but they are essential
tasks. America will finish what we have begun, and we will win this
essential victory in the war on terror. (Applause.)
On national security, Americans have the clearest possible choice.
My opponent says he approves of bold action in the world, but only if
other countries don't object. (Laughter.) I'm all for united action,
and so are our 34 coalition partners in Iraq right now. (Applause.)
This country must never outsource America's security decisions to
leaders of other nations. (Applause.)
Some are skeptical that the war on terror is really a war at all.
Just days ago, my opponent indicated that he's not comfortable using
the word "war" to describe the struggle we're in. He said, "I don't
want to use that terminology." Senator Kerry has also said the war on
terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an
intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation. I disagree. Our
nation followed this approach after the World Trade Center was bombed
in 1993. The matter was handled in the courts and thought by some to
be settled. But the terrorists were still training in Afghanistan.
They were still plotting in other nations. They were drawing up more
ambitious plans. After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it
is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. (Applause.)
With the attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war
on the United States of America. And war is what they got. One very
important issue of this war is intelligence-gathering, as Senator Kerry
says. Yet in 1995, two years after the first attack on the World Trade
Center, my opponent offered legislation to cut the overall intelligence
budget by $1.5 billion. When he introduced that bill on the floor of
the Senate, Senator Kerry said he was cutting spending that was, in his
words, pointless, wasteful, antiquated, and just plain silly. Well,
his colleagues must have had their own ideas about what was pointless
and silly, because not one of them signed on as a co-sponsor to Senator
Kerry's idea. (Applause.)
Intelligence spending is necessary, not wasteful. It is
important. It is a serious duty of our government, and vital to the
defense of this country. (Applause.)
Our intelligence professionals are taking great risks and they're
doing great work. And so are the men and women of the United States
military. (Applause.) At bases across our country and the world, I've
had the privilege -- the high privilege -- of meeting with those who
defend our country and sacrifice for our security. I've seen their
great decency and their unselfish courage. And I assure you, ladies
and gentlemen, the cause of freedom is in very good hands. (Applause.)
This nation is prosperous and strong, yet we need to remember that
our greatest strength is in the hearts and souls of our citizens.
We're strong because of the values we try to live by: courage and
compassion and reverence and integrity. We're strong because of the
institutions that give us direction and purpose: families and schools
and religious congregations. These values and institutions are
fundamental to our lives, and they deserve the respect of the
government. We stand for the fair treatment of faith-based groups, so
they can receive federal support for their works of compassion and
help. We will not stand for government discrimination against people
of faith. (Applause.)
We stand for welfare reforms that require work and strengthen
marriage, which have helped millions of Americans find independence and
dignity. We will not stand for any attempt to weaken those reforms,
and to send people back into lives of dependence. We stand for a
culture of life, in which every person counts, and every person
matters. We will not stand for the treatment of any life as a
commodity, to be experimented on, or exploited, or cloned.
(Applause.) We stand for the confirmation of judges who strictly and
faithfully interpret the law. We will not stand for judges who
undermine democracy by legislating from the bench, and try to remake
the culture of America by court order. (Applause.)
We stand for the culture of responsibility in America. We're
changing the culture of America from one that says, if it feels good,
do it, and if you've got a problem, blame somebody else, to a culture
in which each of us understands we are responsible for the decisions we
make in life. If you're fortunate enough to be a mother or a father,
you're responsible for loving your child with all your heart.
(Applause.) If you're worried about the quality of the education in
the community in which you live, you're responsible for doing something
about it. (Applause.) If you're a CEO in corporate America, you're
responsible for telling the truth to your shareholders and your
employees. (Applause.) And in a new responsibility society, each of
us is responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be
loved ourself. (Applause.)
For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is
expected of our leaders. This isn't one of those times. You and I are
living in a period when the stakes are high and the challenges are
difficult; a period of time when American resolve is needed.
None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and
another began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of
the Twin Towers. I stood with George and Rudy. I'll never forget that
day. There were workers in hard hats shouting at the top of their
lungs, "Whatever it takes." I remember a fellow pointed at me and
said, "Mr. President, never let me down." As we all did that day, the
men and women searching through the rubble took it personally. I took
it personally. I have a responsibility that goes on. I will never
relent in bringing justice to our enemies. I will defend the security
of America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)
In these times, I have also been witness to the character of this
nation. Not so long ago, some had their doubts about the American
character, whether we could meet a serious challenge, or whether we had
the capacity to serve a cause greater than self-interest. But
Americans have given their answer. I've seen the unselfish courage of
our troops. I've seen the heroism of Americans in the face of danger.
I've seen the spirit of service and compassion renewed in our country.
We've all seen our nation unite in common purpose when it mattered
most.
We will need all of these qualities for the work ahead. We have a
war to win. And the world is counting on us to lead in the cause of
freedom and peace. We have a duty to spread opportunity to every part
of this country. This is the work that history has set before us. We
welcome it. And we know that for our country, the best days lie
ahead.
God bless you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
END 7:02 P.M. EST
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